I do not live in California. I live in Vermont. We have a little (for those of you who are Californian, read "barely perceptible") tremblor once every few years. On the tenth there was a 3.9 quake in Quebec, which we could have felt if we were up at 4:19 that morning. We slept through that. now there was a 4.5 (possible 4.6) earthquake centered around Lake Arrowhead, Maine, which we definitely did feel, and it rumbled like the dryer having a rough start up (although that might have been part of the house moving around to cause the noise).

Now when I lived in Greece this would have been a big nothing. Ho-hum. *yawn* But this is New England.

[Eyes overfull and not tied or strapped bookcases speculatively]

I'll say it again, Mother Earth, slowly in case you didn't get it the first time. N--e--w E--n--g--l--a--n--d.

Oh, and for those of you with geology backgrounds. Yes. I know that earthquakes can happen here too. But I'm spoiled, I tell you, spoiled, and I expect this to stop right now!!!

ETA: The U.S.G.S. has, since I posted, revised their rating of the quake in Maine from 4.5 (where they had initially pegged it although they soon moved that up to 4.6) down to 4.0. I didn't want to leave that overinflated number out there, because on the Richter scale, that difference matters.

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lol, we get bout as many of the quebec ***aftershocks*** (big eyes, mouth open wide in.. terror? LOL!) as you do,

but I remember.. a year go(?? or was it 2) where we actually really felt one, middle of the afternoon at work, actually felt that sideways translation movement; you suddenly could relate to watching those videos where the file folder units move back and forth sharply. lasted a few seconds too. long enough to get up from your rolly chair wondering wtf and still get to feel jerked round.

A few years ago I was sound asleep when there was an earthquake (as I recall the epicenter was somewhere in the Adirondacks of northern New York State), and my bed suddenly developed magic fingers it had never had before and woke me up. I was singularly disoriented and confused until Beloved Husband (who is an earlier riser) stuck his head in the door, and seeing me awake, asked if I'd felt the earthquake.

Already did that just before I posted. It was kind of interesting to see the map of the places that had already reported in. But thank you. If I hadn't already discovered the possibility by going to the USGS site to follow up on what level they had assigned the quake and what they had determined the epicenter to be, I would have been delighted to be informed!

Yeah, I can see how you really wouldn't want to have to, living where you live. It was disconcerting enough watching the whole building sway in an old apartment building in a fifth floor walk-up apartment when we lived in Greece (there was an elevator, but it was so unreliable and so often stuck between floors that no one ever used it). I was seven and had no clue about the possibilities if the shaking ever got too bad. Because I didn't know the possibilities, I wasn't worried about outcomes, I was just a little freaked out that the Earth that I expected to be solid and still wasn't. Having it happen when you're old enough to envision the possibilities has to be a whole new level of tummy-wobbling disturbance.

You know, I once lived in California for 4 years and I was shocked to hear that they have a teeny tiny earthquake every 15 minutes or so. The teeny tiny ones I could take, it was the bigger ones I had a hard time dealing with. :)

I live in Michigan and it was tremendous news about a year ago when we got the aftershocks of some earthquake all the way over in Canada somewhere. It just rarely ever happens here. Quite the opposite though when we get tornado warnings and/or watches. No one gets all flustered until the dang thing actually hits. lol And that's including air raid sirens. We might go out and look for a twister, but other than that, it's life as usual. I guess those who live in earthquake prone areas are a little more apt to stay alert than we are!

I lived in Ann Arbor for 4 years while my husband was in med school and I was in grad school. There was one day when I was doing research up in the top (8th) floor of the grad library where the locked-need-a-key-and-professorial-permission papyrology scetion is, and it was the only night I could do the work, because I had to work as a lifeguard and swim instructor the other nights free before my seminar report was due, and then I needed a night to actually write up my findings and get it ready for presentation. So there I was, and they announced a tornado warning. I locked up and headed for the basement. It was called off. I went back up. I started work, they called another one. After several rounds of this, I was sick of it. I decided that the next one they called, I was staying put. They called it. I sat. A bolt of lightning, and I looked out the window to actually see the twister headed my way. I beat a hasty retreat down to the basement, deciding that retreat was the better part of valor. The thing never touched down, and I was soon able to resume my work, but every year one or two people would ignore the warnings and die, not in Ann Arbor but in surrounding Southern Michigan communities like Chelsea.

On the whole, having lived with both, I'd choose earthquake over tornado. But living here, I rarely have to experience either!

I feel the same way about tornados.* I know they can happen on the east coast, but I vastly prefer to pretend otherwise. It's very upsetting when the occasional rogue tornado proves me wrong, mostly because I'm scared as hell of them.

*I was unsure about whether the plural form should have an "e." Neither spelling looked right to me, but I looked it up and apparently both are acceptable. Yup, I'm neurotic that way.